


The New Boy In Town

by jakepurralta



Category: Brooklyn Nine-Nine (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Lawyers, F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-02
Updated: 2016-01-11
Packaged: 2018-04-02 11:08:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,620
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4057708
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jakepurralta/pseuds/jakepurralta
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lawyer AU.</p><p>The new hotshot attorney in town, Jake Peralta, has his own way of winning cases. Super methodical Amy Santiago doesn't instantly like him.</p><p>Chapter 3 up: Amy has not warmed up to Jake, but he suggests they should start over.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue - Introduction to Holt LLP

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not a lawyer myself. A lot of the information that will be used to write this fic is the result of some pretty extensive Googling. Pardon me if I get some of the facts wrong.

Holt is a well-respected law firm in New York. Raymond Holt, the most experienced lawyer of those employed at Holt now, is currently senior partner at the firm. He used to work closely together with fellow partner Madeline Wuntch, but she chose to go her own way after – let’s just say – a conflict of interest.

The firm has its share of associates who are all motivated in their own way. There’s Rosa Diaz, a tenacious hard worker who knows exactly what she needs to do to get the job done and as such, usually never fails. This is why clients with particularly emotional cases (who need a win) often opt to choose her as their lawyer. Then there’s Amy Santiago. She doesn’t make it a secret that she grew up with seven brothers and thus, always feels the need to prove herself. In addition to that, she hopes to make partner someday and the only way to do that (she believes) is by working hard and making sure she wins all of her cases.

Behind every good attorney stands an equally skilled assistant. These assistants are more than just the people who hand Amy and Rosa coffee in the morning, though. They are trained to provide paralegal backup: doing legal research, interviewing clients and witnesses, drafting deposition notices and much more. Kylie Owens is Amy’s assistant. She is, in terms of personality, pretty much the polar opposite of Amy. She enjoys flirting with strangers at a bar after a couple of drinks, always has something cheeky to say and loves living life at its fullest. However, that doesn’t stop the two women from being best friends. In fact, their friendship and mutual respect for one another is what has made their partnership one of the most solid ones at the firm. Gina Linetti is quite similar to Kylie Owens, but she’s a bit more forward. Whereas Kylie makes sure not to insult her friend when commenting her on her latest outfit, Gina does not hide it whenever she feels the need to tell Amy that her outfit makes her look like she stepped out of a _Mad Men_ satire show. Still though, Gina is a more than capable assistant/paralegal. She is often Rosa’s secret weapon when exposing a lie in a testimony and is always fully informed about a case Rosa is working on, making her invaluable for the associate.

At Holt you will also occasionally see Teddy Wells, Terry Jeffords and Dave Majors walking through the hallways. They’re contract lawyers and not permanently working at Holt. Teddy and Dave operate in several firms that require their assistance, whereas Terry is a contract lawyer in order to still have a good work-life balance. He has two daughters and one baby on the way, and he’s doing everything he can to be the family man he needs to be.

However, recently Raymond Holt has decided that the firm cannot function with its current amount of associates, so he decides to hire a new lawyer. He has decided against openly discussing this, because he does not expect everyone to be happy about a certain Jacob Peralta being their new colleague.

 


	2. The New Boy In Town

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meet the new guy.

“Hello sir, you wanted to see us?” Amy speaks for all of them when she walks into Holt’s office along with Kylie, Rosa and Gina.

Raymond looks up from his documents, but doesn’t get out of his seat. “Yes. I would’ve sent an email to give you all prior notice but since this decision has been made on short notice, I wanted you to hear it from me personally. I’ve hired a new associate to come work for us.”

“That’s great, that’s excellent!” Amy’s sudden outburst causes Rosa to flinch and roll her eyes, as if she’s not used to Amy being such a teacher’s pet.

“Yes, I’m quite elated as well.”

“And doing an excellent job portraying it, sir.” Gina says, before pulling out her phone from her pocket. She doesn’t believe this conversation is going to hold her interest for much longer.

“So, who’s the new associate?” Kylie asks, to keep the conversation going.

“The name might be familiar. He’s been in the local newspapers quite often,” Holt begins, and Kylie tilts her head in suspicion when she notices his slight hesitation. “It’s Jacob Peralta.”

“Oh,” the ladies say in unison, though no one seems to really be familiar with the name.

Holt just places his hands together and waits patiently, a silence stretching in the room while everyone contemplates the name. Rosa has her face contorted in a particularly thoughtful expression. Clearly she thinks she knows the name, but she just can’t remember from where.

“Wait,” Amy starts with a worried expression on her face, “Jacob Peralta? As in, the guy who made the headlines for showing up in court in a speedo?”

A barely contained laugh erupts from Rosa’s mouth. “Oh yeah, now I remember.”

Raymond keeps a straight face, calmly waiting for Rosa to recollect herself. “Yes. However, you may also recall that he won the case, with the defendant having to pay $2.5 million in damages to his client. That’s $2 million more than the initial amount his client requested. I may not always agree with his methods, but he knows how to win his cases and I do believe that Jacob Peralta will be a valuable asset to the firm. I expect you all to welcome him to the company as the professionals you are.” Holt’s eyes trailed over his colleagues, scrutinizing each of their facial reactions. Amy, of course, was already busy smoothening her pencil skirt with the palms of her hand while Kylie inspected if her hair was okay. Rosa had her customary stoic expression, though her eyes seemed to indicate she was at least a little bit curious about Jacob Peralta. Gina was standing a little bit behind Rosa, seemingly too busy on her phone to even notice what was going on.

“So when can we expect him, sir?” Amy asks, trying her best to hide her discomfort. Yes, she’s very uncomfortable with the prospect of Jacob Peralta working with her at the firm where she is employed. Is he going to be respectful and professional like all of her other co-workers? Or can she actually expect him to suddenly pull up his shirt to reveal the fact that he put googly eyes on his nipples? Honestly, she knows she can expect anything when it comes to Jacob Peralta. Plus, word is that he’s pretty promiscuous, and lawyers don’t really have time to date outside the firm. What if he starts hitting on her? She is not nearly as intimidating as Rosa, not by a long shot. She’ll have to do whatever she can to make sure he knows that she’s not interested.

Gina isn’t helping Amy get rid of her distraught train of thought. The woman steps forward with an excited smile on her face while she holds her iPhone sideways, forcing her colleagues to look at a video. It turns out to be a video of a news report from 2013, in which the reporter talks about a court case in which Jacob Peralta cross examines a witness while wearing a magician’s outfit, complete with the ludicrous long black hat and a pair of white gloves. He’s talking about the credibility of a source based on physical appearance, but Amy can’t help but be repulsed at his choice of outfit. She was a very by the book attorney, and nowhere in any of her law books did it say ‘wear a magician’s outfit to court’.

While Kylie, Rosa and Gina are too busy discussing whether or not having Jacob around is a good thing or not (they are quick to decide that yes, it is a good thing), Amy is lost in her own thoughts, pondering how she’s going to make sure to keep him as far away from her as possible. Raymond’s attention is already back on the documents he was reading before.

Not a single person in the room hears a knock on the glass door. Someone loudly clears his voice. The women turn their heads in an instant and Raymond stands up from his seat, approaching the man.

He’s short and he wears a cheap looking beige suit that might be a size too big for him, but his friendly expression almost makes up for it. “Hi. My name is Charles Boyle. I’m Jake’s legal assistant.”

“Ah,” Holt says, and the two men shake hands. “Mr. Peralta mentioned that he had his own assistant. Where is he now?”

“He’ll be here in a minute. He wanted to make an entrance.” Charles says with a smile on his face, then takes the opportunity to greet the others while they wait for the new associate.

When he finally does stride him, Amy thinks that time might as well have slowed down because that’s probably exactly what he would’ve wanted. He’s wearing a dark blue suit that’s pretty much fitted to perfection with black shoes that seem to shimmer in the light and a striped, wide tie. As he enters the room, he casually removes his dark shades in one swift movement and grimaces. “Well, well, well, what do we have here?”

Kylie exhales a little too harshly to Amy’s liking, and she lightly jabs her friend in the stomach. Charles just looks proud as he watches Raymond, Rosa and Gina politely greet their new colleague.

“Jacob Peralta. It’s my pleasure to welcome you at the firm.” Raymond says courteously.

“Oh, please, call me Jake. My father is Jacob Peralta,” Jake’s smile is lighthearted and a little infectious, and Amy briefly considers forgiving him for his ridiculously cheesy entrance. “Actually, that’s not true. My father is Roger Peralta, but I still want everyone to refer to me as Jake.”

“Except I get to call him ‘Jakey’!” Charles’ exclamation shares the same level of happiness as that of a 12-year-old, and while Rosa rolls her eyes at it (when does she not roll her eyes?), the other people in the room seem to like it.

“In limited quota, Charles. Don’t forget that.”

Raymond starts walking back to his desk. “Well, I’ve kept you all from work for too long. Amy, walk Jake to his office.”

She’s a little taken aback by it. “Sir, I don’t know where that is.”

He just peers at her over his glasses, then looks back down and waves her off. “It’s the big empty office next to yours. Can’t miss it.”

She can’t help but throw her head back a little and sigh in exasperation. Of course. Of all places, he has to be her neighbor. She feels the ground moving under her feet and in the reflection of the glass behind Raymond, she notices he’s moving up and down like an excited puppy.

* * *

“So, we never really officially introduced ourselves to each other.”

Jake is struggling to keep up with Amy’s pace and frankly, she’s not making it easy for him to follow her. Her high heels click on the hard wooden floor in rapid succession as she darts through the hallways, nearly knocking over a secretary in the process.

“Oh,” she stops in her tracks, causing Charles (who followed her closely) to bump into her and Kylie to bump into Charles (he instantly starts apologizing profusely, to Amy, to Kylie and to nobody in particular). Amy just has her attention solely on Jake, one eyebrow raised, one hand placed firmly on her hip. “I’m Amy Santiago.” He laughs at that, and she immediately goes into her defensive mode, her facial expression turning into a scowl. “Why are you laughing?”

“Uh,” Jake stops laughing, but his smile is persistent. “Let’s just say that you’re leaving quite an impression on me, Amy.”

“Amy Santiago,” she corrects him.

“Amy Santiago.”

She allows her hand to slide off her hip and hang loosely on her side and he offers her his hand. She looks at it for a while, then decides it’s best to just push her weird animosity towards Jake aside for a while. He hasn’t technically done anything to her yet, why was she even so upset? It rather confuses her.

A few minutes later, they arrive at his office, which is pretty much an exact replica of hers, sans the balcony she’s blessed with. Regardless, he whistles as he steps over the threshold and inspects his new home away from home. “That’s… quite an office.”

“Jake, look at this! My new desk has three more drawers than my old one!” Kylie is helping a very ecstatic Charles get settled behind his desk which is placed directly in front of Jake’s office.

Jake doesn’t even turn around, but instead just holds a thumb up in the air. “That’s great, Charles, congratulations.” He leans a little closer to Amy. “Charles is a big fanatic of the little things in life.”

For the first time since she met him, Amy lets out a genuine laugh.

* * *

“So, how about the new guys, huh?”

Amy looks up from her laptop as Kylie walks in with a big smile on her face. Fortunately, Amy notes, she’s holding two cups of coffee in her hands so she’s not here for the sole purpose of chatting about men. “Coffee, thank you.” She closes the lid of her laptop and eagerly holds out her hands, the aroma of vanilla scented coffee tickling her senses.

Kylie settles herself in the seat across Amy’s desk and puts her coffee on the table. It’s way too hot to drink right away, anyway. “Seriously, Jake is quite a sight for sore eyes.”

“Seriously? Hm, I don’t see it.” Amy scrunches up her nose and brings the cup to her lips. She does recall _intensely_ looking at him while he wandered around his office, inspecting every nook and cranny with his hands tucked into his pockets. The action caused the fabric of his jacket to move upwards ever so slightly, and she may or may not have noticed that he has an ass that fit his slacks quite nicely.

Kylie seems to be unaware of Amy’s inappropriate thoughts. “I’m not just talking about his looks. I mean, this office was in dire need of some comedic transformation. I personally can’t wait until the day he takes his pants off in court again.”

“Ugh, the fact that you have to add ‘again’ to that sentence makes you have to understand why I’m a little skeptical of him.” Amy tries to take a sip, but it’s still too hot and it burns her tongue a little.

Kylie gives her a look. “Honey, do I need to throw a lamp at you? Lighten up.” She looks over her shoulder. Jake is sitting on the corner of Charles’ desk, the two of them in deep conversation about something. “Honestly, _I’m feelin’ it_.”

That causes Amy to put her cup down harshly. A bit of liquid spills over the edges, but Amy is too busy getting her friend’s attention back to care. “No. No, no, no, no, no. You know what Raymond thinks about interpersonal work relationships.”

“What Raymond Holt thinks is that relationships at the office are not to be taken lightly. Flings are an absolute taboo. However, due to our line of work it is often unavoidable that we meet our partners within a firm. You remember his husband, Kevin Cozner.”

“That’s different,” Amy sighs. “Kevin works for a different firm.”

Kylie gives her a pointed look. “Um, Kevin _worked_ for the _opposing_ firm. And that worked out.”

Amy heaves a sigh, rubbing her temples. “Look, Kylie. All I’m asking you is not to rush into things. If you want Jake, go ahead and take him, I don’t care. But if you just want a fling, please just go to a bar or something.”

Kylie leans forward and puts her hands over her friend’s, successfully getting her full attention. “Trust me, Amy. I won’t make a move on Jake unless I’m completely and utterly in love with him. I also won’t make a move on him if he turns out to end up liking you.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Another one of Kylie’s smirks as she lets Amy’s hands go. “We’ll find out soon enough, won’t we?”

 


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They start over.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> me: *ends a chapter with* "we'll find out soon enough, won't we?"  
> me: *updates story seven months later*

“Hi neighbor.”

Amy fights back the urge to let out an exasperated sigh, and instead, plasters an overly polite smile on her face as she looks up and straight into the eyes of her new colleague. He’s hanging on to her door frame, with only his head popped into her office.

“Peralta. Is there anything I can help you with?”

“Yes,” he clasps his hands together and takes her response as an invitation to come in. “I’ve been getting to know my new, awesome colleagues today. Rosa Diaz is a badass attorney who’s excellent at exposing the truth and a force to be reckoned with. However, she’s also terribly scary which is probably why she doesn’t have many clients over the age of 60. Then there’s the paralegal who occasionally lends her a helping hand, Gina Linetti. She’s…let’s just say, eccentric. But it works for her. She’s good at playing dumb which often resulted in people underestimating her and her turning out to be Rosa’s secret weapon in order to win a case. She often – and I’m literally quoting Gina right now, word for word – saves the entire damn firm and deserves a 400% raise.”

Amy has to admit, his findings on Rosa and Gina are pretty spot on and there’s something about the way his lips are forming a light smile as he talks about the women that she kind of appreciates. She can already tell there’s a certain degree of respect he already has for them.

“And then there’s Kylie Owens,” Jake continues, pulling Amy from her thoughts back to reality. “she’s your legal assistant slash best friend. Which, I have to admit, is something I was quite surprised about. I assumed you two were polar opposites-”

“I will have you know that I am on good terms with everyone in this firm,” Amy’s snaps, sounding more defensive than she wanted. “I send Christmas cards to everyone every year, even the janitors and secretaries.”

“Of course you do,” he just says. “what – or should I say who – I am more curious about, is you.” He has a finger pointed in her direction and a cheeky grin on his face.

“Me? Why?”

“Well, the second I walked in here you’ve been giving me this weird vibe. Like you don’t like me or something. Which is a darn shame, because I am delightful. My gram-gram would definitely agree with me on this,” he leans in a little closer to her, gives her a playful wink. “she calls me Pineapples.”

For lack of a better response, Amy lets out a huff and raises from her seat. “I don’t dislike you, Jacob-“

“-please don’t talk like my mom, and just call me Jake-”

“…Jake. I was just surprised to hear that you were going to be my new colleague. Of course I’ve been hearing stories from you. Stories about things you’ve done in court.” She shakes her head, thinks about the impression Jake has left on her after reading about one of his shenanigans on the internet. It’s not a good one.

He pulls a face at that. “Ugh, don’t talk like I’ve done unspeakable things in court, like take my pants off to win a case.” He pauses momentarily, then the crooked grimace is back. “Oh, wait. The speedo. Yeah, I did that.”

She isn’t entirely sure why his presence seems to bother her so much. All she knows is that he sparks a feeling of frustration in her and she needs to tell him just that. “See? This is exactly what I mean. You and I are nothing alike. You have a very bizarre way of winning cases sometimes and I follow the rules-“

“-because you’re a killjoy?”

“No, Jake,” she retorts, “because rules are made to be followed. They are made to provide structure and certainty to the judicial system and you just… toss them out the window. Along with your pants, probably.” She muttered the last words, but it was still loud enough for him to hear and all he did was chuckle at her.

“Look, let’s just forget about this weird resentment you have against me and allow me to start over. Let’s go have a drink later and we can get to know each other. Unless of course you don’t drink because you’re literally Mother Teresa.”

She bites her lip to form a thin line on her face, thinks about her options, then concludes that he’s probably right- if they’re gonna work together she needs to figure out a way to start liking him. Or, something like that. She already feels like she won’t be able to go through a single day without feeling the need to smack him across the face, which is probably not a healthy thought to have on the workplace.

“Fine.”

-

She lets him pick the place (because really, she wants to get this over with as soon as possible and does not expect to be having a good time) and is slightly surprised when he takes them to a bar that’s one block away from the offices. It’s Shaw’s, and it’s a place that’s all too familiar to her. He has the door pushed open for her and as she steps in, she thinks about all the times she’s been here. Sometimes alone, sometimes with her colleagues. Sometimes to celebrate successfully closing a case, sometimes mourning the unfortunate result of lost cases.

“I take it you’re familiar with Shaw’s?” he points out, his voice sounding surprisingly gentle.

She realizes that he must’ve been looking – or scrutinizing, or staring – at her while she was digging up old memories. She just nods. “I go here from time to time.”

The two of them find a table in the far corner of the bar, where you can still hear the chatter and the sounds of glass hitting the tables, but it’s quiet enough to have a proper conversation. In the obscurity of the light, she notices that he has left his jacket at work and has his sleeves rolled up, his blue striped tie hanging loosely around his neck. It almost insinuates that he’s had a productive day at work when all he’s been doing is move his stuff into his office and get to know the others.

“So.” He smiles at her, looking a little unsure.

“So.” She repeats. She doesn’t know where to take this, either. “Maybe we should’ve invited the others.”

“Maybe we should’ve. But I know Kylie was going to attend Gina’s dance rehearsal tonight and Boyle has a cooking class, so that really only left Rosa. And to be honest, I haven’t quite figured out how to talk to her without feeling petrified.”

Amy giggles. “Yeah, she’s scary alright. But I’ve been working with her for two years now. She’ll grow on you eventually. More importantly, I think she might just end up liking you.”

“Really?” He looks genuinely pleased. “Are you saying that you’re finally acknowledging the fact that I am a delight, Amy Santiago?”

Her full name rolls off his tongue easily, and it stirs up a feeling inside her chest that she can’t quite put her finger on. Maybe it’s because he’s new and she hasn’t quite formed an opinion on him yet, she doesn’t really feel like dealing with… whatever’s going on in her chest area whenever he looks at her for a second too long, she forces the confusing thoughts into the back of her mind and moves on to another subject.

“So, what made you decide to pursue a career in law? I mean, no offense, but you’re not the kind of guy I would picture when describing a lawyer.”

He smirks. “Well, I don’t really have an interesting story to back it up, but ever since I was a little kid I’ve been wanting to protect the ones who can’t or need help with protecting themselves.”

“From whom?”

A shrug. “You know. The world’s kind of a shitty place full of vultures and power hungry scavengers.”

“Huh. I get your point. I’ve had my share of cases against heartless executives of multi-billion dollar companies. I mean, I get that they were trying to protect their firm, but _any_ shred of human decency would’ve been nice, you know.”

He nods slowly, then dramatically clasps his hand over his chest. “Wait. Don’t you get the wrong opinion about me, though. I have been through some _traumatic_ events before I got here. One time, when I was eleven, I asked my grandma to buy me a strawberry milkshake and she came home with a strawberry… smoothie.”

She tilts her head and feigns sympathy. “You poor thing.” Under the table, her hand is inadvertently pinching her thigh to remind herself to keep her cool. _Whatever he’s doing, it won’t work. Jake Peralta is **not** cute, damn it. Ah, crap. Now I have a word for it._

Her internal struggle seems to go by unnoticed. “You laugh, but you know that was a terrible moment for me.”

“I do. Milkshakes are so overrated.”

“Are you kidding me?” he gasps, “milkshakes are _way_ better than smoothies.”

“I don’t agree. At least smoothies still taste like the fruit they were made of, whereas milkshakes are often nothing more than a cold mess of ice and artificial flavors.”

“Now you’re just talking crazy, I don’t even know if I can sit with you now.”

He muttered it under his breath and that’s when Amy laughs and feels a bit of weight fall from her shoulders.

Seven hours into Life With Jake Peralta and Amy has to note that she finds comfort into the back and forth she has with him. She’s never really had that with anyone before, not even the men she used to date. They were all very much like her, and not at all like Peralta. Not that she’d tell him that, he’d only use that as an excuse to praise himself into the heavens.

But yeah, it was probably a good idea to take him up on his offer to get a drink. She certainly feels less resistant at the mere thought of having to see him every day, a feeling that is slowly being replaced with… something else? Maybe, she just might end up liking him a little.

If anything, he does seem like a nice guy. A nice, all-over-the-place kind of guy, but definitely not a slick sleaze ball that this line of work seemed to produce constantly. He’s wearing the same type of suit, but his hair is fluffy and when he smiles, it feels real and it’s contagious and she can’t help but smile back.

Yeah, maybe he’s not half bad.

-

Five hours later, Amy is lying in her bed and she feels her phone buzz. Kylie’s asking her for any “juicy deets” and Amy wonders how the woman even found out she had drinks with him when she didn’t tell a soul.

“No juicy deets, Kylie,” Amy texts back, feeling a little groggy from sleep but still energized enough to give her friend an instant response.

Kylie just responds with a series of emojis that can only mean one thing: she’s gonna get one hell of a third degree when she steps into the office tomorrow morning. _Great._

She lets her head flop back into her pillow, and decides to just enjoy her final hours rest that she _is_ granted for today.


End file.
